


Where Do I Begin

by Hildigunnur



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: F/M, RPF, Yuletide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-20
Updated: 2012-12-20
Packaged: 2017-11-21 18:11:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/600674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hildigunnur/pseuds/Hildigunnur
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes you need someone to talk you into flying off the edge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Where Do I Begin

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kindness](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kindness/gifts).



> Thanks to my beta, Miss E. For obvious reasons, the title is taken from the song Love Story by Andy Williams.

At an event like the NHK Trophy where there weren't all that many contenders from the same country, the skaters tended to group together with others who spoke the same language. This explained how David found himself hanging out in a hotel bar with Gwendal Peizerat and Emanuel Sandhu in the middle of the night. 

Apparently, the Russians were celebrating winning either gold or silver in every category with a rambunctious party in Plushenko's room, and there was no sleeping in any of the rooms on that floor, which included both David's and Gwendal's rooms. David wasn't sure why Emanuel was there, but he was young and slightly desperate for company - plus spending time in a country where you didn't understand a single thing in the language, plus every sign and public marking being complete illegible to you was tiring. They all welcomed the chance to speak a bit of French.

When he and Jamie had been invited to the NHK Trophy, his immediate thought after thanking the stars for them having scored two Grand Prix events, was to check whether Marina and Gwendal were going. He hesitated to call Gwendal a friend but he knew Gwendal was someone he could hit up for advice. 

There weren't that many who could understand finding a new partner with whom you had such skating chemistry that those far-off fantasies about Olympic gold suddenly weren't so unreachable, but the personal relationship was a mess. David had heard the stories about verbal fights between Gwendal and Marina, ones where Marina had yelled that she wished Gwendal would get his blades stuck in unpleasant places, so loud that some poor unsuspecting holiday makers who happened to be in the same hotel lobby as them heard all about it. 

He and Jamie weren't nearly that vicious towards each other but there was friction. On the ice they were one entity, her trust in him so palpable that they were both pushing themselves further than they had before in their skating careers. Jamie was landing triple jumps she'd never landed before and David was daring to try lifts he'd never envisioned he'd have a capable enough partner to do them with. 

Off the ice they were definitely not of one mind. On most days Jamie found a reason to complain about his personal hygiene and on the other days she went out of her way to question his eating habits or his enthusiasm for hockey. And because he wasn't one to take this lying down he tried to dish out at least a good fraction of the earfuls she gave him. Sometimes he complained about her sharp nails digging into his palms but never on the ice, only when she was telling him that he smelled like a pig that had chain-smoked pipe tobacco. Mostly he told her that she could do with being less of a pampered princess, since after all he had moved across time zones to skate with her. 

Before David could even voice one question, Gwendal was looking at him, a knowing smirk playing on his lips.

"So you and Salé? Looking good I daresay." 

The Kirin beer David had been sipping traveled down the wrong pipe, making him cough in a very undignified manner. Gwendal chuckled and Emanuel emitted a fake-sounding snort, though it was obvious he wasn't in on the joke.

"Hit a nerve, I see. I was mostly just complimenting you. It's not common that such a new pair is medaling all over the place less than a year after they started skating together."

David bristled. "You should know better than to buy into the cliché that if two people are skating together, they must be together, unless they are siblings."

"But Katja and Sergei, Jenni and Todd, Elena and Oleg - though they got divorced..." Emanuel injected but he shut up when Gwendal put up his hand.

"You know what they say," he then said. David felt like protesting whatever Gwendal was going to say right away but it would probably be something anecdotal so he said nothing. 

"The reason why the Chinese pairs end up dating and usually marrying each other is because their partner is the only person they see besides their coach. The reason why Russian pairs end up dating is because the party wants them to. Either way, you must be a good comrade, though Marina would probably bite my head off for saying this. Pairs from the rest of the world don't date because The Cutting Edge isn't real life."

"I thought that was because most of the guys from North America and Europe who compete in pairs are gay." Emanuel kicked his feet up on the chair opposite him. All David did was raise an eyebrow.

"And you would know how, young padawan?" Gwendal asked.

"I don't know this personally... but you hear things, that's all," Emanuel answered, trying to smooth over his defensiveness by being nonchalant.

"But you and Jamie, eh?" Gwendal turned to David.

"Are skating together, that's all."

He wasn't lying through his teeth per se. While his heart seemed to want to contract into strange shapes every time he thought about Jamie he had tried to keep that hidden, even when she was throwing insults at him. Maybe that's why he complained about her nails when she was on her triads about whatever was bothering her about him - just to say something else than "you have beautiful eyes." Saying it in French wasn't an option, especially since Jamie had started taking French classes to improve her basic French skills. Besides, why would he want to rock the boat? Figure skating was their life and now they had an actual chance of succeeding in such a way that their choice to spend their days on the ice wouldn't be questioned.

This was what he wanted to ask Gwendal about. Whether he should even dare to test the waters and potentially ruin a great partnership. But Emanuel was still there and while he was a nice kid, David wasn't all that keen on him knowing his personal business. Especially since he would leak it to the federation and Skate Canada was breathing down their necks enough as it was.

Emanuel had started fidgeting with the ashtray, obviously losing his interest in hanging out with David and Gwendal. 

"Why don't you go see if Stanick has found a way to sneak into the Russian party? He mentioned something about Irina inviting him." Again Gwendal was a step ahead of David. 

Standing up rather abruptly, Emanuel dropped the ashtray on the table with a clang and then strode out of the bar like he was late for an important meeting.

"Finally," said Gwendal, the tone of his voice making David the tiniest bit uncomfortable. When he caught David's face, he started laughing. "Hey, don't worry. This will only be for your own good."

"What is important for my own good is that I keep skating well and..." David started to mutter before Gwendal interrupted him.

"'And keep a professional relationship with Jaime', is that what you were going to say?"

"Uh, yeah," David admitted.

"Okay, I'm going to be completely honest with you. You may not like what I'm about to say but so be it. You are not going to be able to skate to the best of your abilities and keep a professional relationship." Here Gwendal stopped to make air quotes. "If you are secretly in love with your skating partner. You need to get your feelings sorted out. If it means the end of your partnership with Jamie, then so be, it because it will suffer if you're not honest with her. I mean, Marina and I aren't romantically involved and I can't imagine we'll ever be, but I just know if I wasn't completely honest with her, she would probably drop me on my head during one of our reverse lifts. Be honest with Jamie, especially since it's starting to become obvious to the casual spectator that you are harboring serious feelings for her. I saw the way you looked at her in the kiss and cry after your free skate."

David bowed his head. It was at moments like that he knew he struggled to hide his feelings. Exhausted after the free skate and having just opened himself up to lend some convincing interpretation to the routine, what he wanted most of all was to take Jamie into his arms and never let go.

"So do me a favor, David. Tell her how you feel. I'm not going to tell you that you have nothing to lose but I don't think there will be many victories in the future if you don't."

**

Jamie looked so peaceful where she was all curled up and sleeping in the plane seat. David was almost envious of how well her small frame fit into the seat, but most of all a profound sense of affection was filling his heart.

When Jamie stirred, looking a little groggy but so adorable, David took her hand, waiting for her to return to consciousness and when she had started watching him expectantly with her large brown eyes, he cleared his throat.

"Jamie, I have something to tell you."

-fin

**Author's Note:**

> When I started doing research for the story, I got drawn into reading about the 1998 NHK Trophy which clearly influenced the story. It was fun for someone like me who is all up in what's currently happening in figure skating, to do a spot of research and delve into the world of nineties skating.


End file.
